Normal People

by Sally Rooney

Marianne, he said, I’m not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me.

She knew that if she wanted to speak, everyone would probably turn around and listen out of sincere interest, and that made her happy too,

Yes, you feel sorry for me, I’m listening.

I just don’t have a lot of people who I really click with, he says. You know, I struggle with that.

Even if the writer himself was a good person, and even if his book really was insightful, all books were ultimately marketed as status symbols,

It’s different for men, she says.

I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I cared what people thought of me.